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Brown County Sheriff's deputy Greg Gleason is dispatched to US 172 near the US 41 overpass to remove a gas can, reported by a concerned motorist. / File/Press-Gazette Media

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On these pages last weekend, we wrote about some of Brown County’s most-frequent drunken-driving offenders. Today, we’ll focus on someone who keeps drunks off the road: Deputy Greg Gleason.

To his boss at the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, the 21-year veteran is a “people person who treats everybody with dignity and respect.” But to those who endanger lives by getting behind the wheel of 2,000-pound weapons after drinking too much, Gleason can be their worst nightmare.

“He’s a top-notch cop, and when he’s not fielding calls, he’s being proactive with enforcement,” said Capt. Randy Schultz, who oversees the department’s patrol operations. “He works overtime with the (county) OWI Task Force, and with our own OWI patrol.”

Gleason, who for the past three years has been assigned to the village of Howard, made 72 arrests of intoxicated drivers in the past year. That’s the most of anyone in his department. On Monday, he’ll be honored with the 2013 Truttmann Family D.U.I. Enforcement Recognition.

The award is bestowed by the family of Wayne Truttmann, a Brown County sergeant killed in a shooting in 1973, and whose son James was killed by a drunken driver in 1998. Family members in the years after James Truttmann’s death decided to create an event that would focus on the officers battling drunken driving, rather then simply reciting statistics about its consequences.

“A drunk driving arrest doesn’t gather a lot of attention, but the impact can be so, so dramatic,” said Wanda Truttmann Sieber, Wayne’s daughter and James’ brother. “The officer changes the lives of a number of people for the better.”

Sieber, who owns a Green Bay-based shipping business, recently sent a note to dozens of officers in the department. She thanked them for their work in the fight against OWI, and invited them to Monday’s ceremony.

Fifteen years after James Truttman’s death, intoxicated driving remains a major issue in Brown County, especially OWIs involving repeat offenders. Forty percent of the people arrested for OWI last year in the county had at least one previous conviction, and convictions for fourth and fifth offenses were up at least 20 percent. A man jailed after his arrest in Pulaski Thursday morning had seven prior OWIs.

Gleason’s work with the sheriff’s office includes a stint as a D.A.R.E. officer. He also has worked in the department’s jail division.

Gleason made 49 OWI arrests in 2012, leading the county and earning his first Truttmann Award. Previously, Deputy Scott Vande Voort had won it in six of seven years, making 84 arrests in 2004. The highest total by a Truttmann winner was the 92 arrests made by Deputy Patrick McGinty in 2003.